The right whale’s controversial comeback

A recent NY Times article reveals the remarkable but potentially controversial comeback tale of the right whale:

North Atlantic right whales, which can grow up to 55 feet long and weigh up to 70 tons, were the preferred target for 18th- and 19th-century whalers because they are rich in oil and baleen, move slowly, keep close to shore and float when they die.And for these reasons they were hunted to extinction in European waters, and by 1900, only 100 or so remained in their North American range.

Since then, the species’ numbers have slowly increased. NOAA estimates that there are currently about 325 to 400 in the world. It has been illegal to hunt the right whale since 1935, when the League of Nations put them under protection. However, they remain incredibly vulnerable to lethal ship strikes and entanglements in fishing gear.

Happily, according to the New England Aquarium, a center of right whale research, the last four or five months have given the whales a lot to sing about, including:

Recent changes in shipping lanes, some compulsory and others voluntary, seem to be reducing collisions between whales and vessels.

Last year, the Bush administration agreed to lower speed limits for large vessels in coastal waters where right whales congregate.

Fishing authorities in the United States are beginning to impose gear restrictions designed to reduce the chances whales and other marine mammals will be entangled in fishing lines. Canada is considering similar steps.

For the first time since the 1600s, not one North Atlantic right whale died at human hands — although

entanglements with fishing gear continue to be a big problem.

(An estimated 80 percent to 85 percent of adult right whales bear scars from run ins with fishing nets.)

But efforts to protect the whales cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and some wonder if it is worth it.

“We have been pressured by some folks on the outside to say this is a lost cause,” said Greg Silber, who coordinates whale recovery efforts for NOAA, which is charged with protecting marine mammals and endangered species like the right whale.

NOAA biologist Barb Zoodsma suggests that the value of a species is something that “each individual has to sort out for themselves.” What do you think? Are conservation efforts worth the price in time, effort and expense, even if they only help to temporarily protect a species?

To learn more about the plight of the right whale, check out this slide show.